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Mariners-Rays: King Felix at -117 a Gift from the MLB Odds Makers?

To the delight of this baseball betting adviser, Seattle is sending its ace to the hill as it shoots for a sweep of a three-game series with the Rays in St. Pete Wednesday afternoon.

Wednesday's Betting Odds
As of early Wednesday AM Seattle and Felix Hernandez were favored by around -125 over Tampa and Chris Archer, with a total of 6.5 runs. The lowest previous price for MLB picks this season on King Felix was the -130 against Oakland back in April. He didn't pitch particularly well that game, but Seattle won anyway.

The Situation
Seattle has taken the first two games of this series, by scores of 4-1 Monday and 7-6 Tuesday in 10 innings. Last night the Mariners' bullpen blew a three-run, ninth-inning lead, but Kyle Seager, who hit a grand slam in the eighth, bailed them out with a solo homer in the top of the tenth.

So Seattle has won four of its last five games, while Tampa has lost four in a row.

Wednesday's Starters
After a couple of iffy outings a couple of weeks ago Archer has allowed just four runs over his last three starts, covering 18 1/3 innings. Tampa has won his last three starts.

The last time Archer started against the Mariners, last June, he tossed 6 1/3 innings of scoreless ball, although the Rays lost that game 5-0.

Hernandez, meanwhile, got touched for four runs in six innings by Boston 11 days ago, but last Friday he held Toronto to one run through seven frames in a 4-3 Seattle victory. On the season the Mariners are 8-1 in King's starts, with the totals skewing UNDER 7-1.

Hernandez started twice against Tampa last year, allowing four runs through 13 2/3 innings, with one walk and 22 strikeouts; Seattle won both those games.